Iran exported 110,000 tons of pistachio during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-November 20), registering a 131-percent increase year on year, the spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) said.

Ruhollah Latifi put the value of the pistachio exports in the mentioned period at $676 million, 82.5 percent more than the figure for the previous year’s same time span.

According to the IRICA data, 47,000 tons of pistachios worth $371 million were exported from Iran in the first eight months of the previous year (March 21-November 21, 2019).

A total of 97 million tons of goods worth more than $44 billion have been traded between Iran and other countries in the said eight months, of which more than 75 million tons worth $21.5 billion were exported goods.

Iranian exports in the mentioned period have decreased by 14 percent in terms of weight, and 19 percent in terms of value compared to the same period of the previous year.

Earlier in August, Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) held a pistachio export desk meeting to investigate the challenges and barriers in the way of the country’s pistachio exports.

Addressing the meeting, TPO Head Hamid Zadboum put emphasis on the significant status of pistachio in Iran’s export basket as the top agricultural export item and said that a national view toward removing the pistachio export barriers should be adopted.

As announced by Iran’s Pistachio Association, the country has exported 35,000 tons of pistachio during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-July 21).

In early September, the Chairman of Iran Dried Fruit Exporters Association (IDFEA) said the country’s pistachio production is expected to increase by up to 55,000 tons in the current Iranian calendar year (ends on March 20, 2021) compared to the previous year.

“This year’s production is going to be better than last year and the output is expected to reach at least 200,000 to 230,000 tons from the last year’s 175,000 tons,” Mohammad-Hassan Shams Fard said. /T.T/